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Kemp, Van Slyke nearing return to Dodgers

Kemp, Van Slyke nearing return to Dodgers

5/29/13: Matt Kemp takes himself out of the game with an apparent injury during the seventh inning against the Angels

By Austin Laymance
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MLB.com |

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers are finally getting healthy, and outfielders Matt Kemp and Scott Van Slyke could be activated from the disabled list by the end of a three-game series against the Giants.

Kemp and Van Slyke each played in their third Minor League rehab game with Triple-A Albuquerque on Monday and will return to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, when the club's medical staff will evaluate them.

Kemp, on the DL since May 30 with a strained right hamstring, went 1-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored while playing seven innings in center field Monday. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said the hamstring did not bother Kemp in his first two rehab appearances.

Kemp has been sidelined for almost a month, so the Dodgers want to make sure he gets his timing down at the plate before they activate him.

"We still feel like he needs at-bats," Mattingly said before Monday's series opener against the Giants. "I'll get a chance to talk to him tomorrow and we'll see how he feels. I don't think he wants come back until he's ready to go and has his timing."

Van Slyke, out since June 11 with left shoulder bursitis, is 2-for-12 in three rehab games. He will play Tuesday's day game with the Isotopes (Kemp won't) and then return to Los Angeles.

Mattingly said Van Slyke could be activated Wednesday, but said he's "in the same boat" as Kemp.

"He hasn't swung the bat great yet," the manager said. "We want to make sure his timing is good, too."

Austin Laymance is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.